Lancair Legacy FG N550NL 03 instrument panel

The Lancair Legacy, a modernized version of the

Lancair 320 The Lancair 320 is a two-seat single-engined light aircraft marketed in kit form by the U.S. general aviation manufacturer Lancair. It is based on the Lancair 235, but with a larger fuselage and more powerful engine, and like the 235, it is a ...

, is a low-wing two-place retractable-gear

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

manufactured by the American company

Lancair Lancair International, Inc. (pronounced ''"lance-air"'') is a U.S. manufacturer of general aviation aircraft kits. They are well known for their series of high-performance single-engine aircraft that offer cruise speeds that surpass many t ...

. It is available as a kit that cost

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

71,500 in 2011.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, p. 58. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 There is also a fixed-gear version, the Legacy FG. The retractable version of the Legacy cruises at 276 mph at 8,000 ft and the fixed gear version cruises at 215 mph.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', p. 107. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Legacy features a cantilever

low wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

enclosed cockpit under a

bubble canopy A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can vary drastically; so ...

, fixed or retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', p. 113. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. The aircraft is made from vacuum-formed composite sandwiches. Its span wing employs a Cole CG10

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

at the

wing root The wing root is the part of the wing on a fixed-wing aircraft or winged-spaceship that is closest to the fuselage,Peppler, I.L.: ''From The Ground Up'', page 9. Aviation Publishers Co. Limited, Ottawa Ontario, Twenty Seventh Revised Edition, 1 ...

and a Cole GC11 airfoil at the

wingtip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

. The wing has an area of and mounts flaps. The aircraft can accept engines of . The standard engine used is the

Continental IO-550 The Continental IO-550 engine is a large family of 9 liter fuel injected six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engines that were developed for use in light aircraft by Teledyne Continental Motors. The first IO-550 was deliver ...

but engines as small as the

Lycoming IO-360 The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between , with the basic O-360 producing . The engine family has been installed in ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplant can be fitted. Four Lancair Legacy aircraft have won the ''Grand Champion Kit Built'' award at the

EAA AirVenture EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisco ...

airshow, in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016. In May 2016, Lancair announced that the company was ending production of new Legacy aircraft kits due to the significant investments that would have been needed to continue manufacturing. The company sold the line in 2017 to Mark and Conrad Huffstutler, who now build the design as

Lancair International, LLC Lancair International, Inc. (pronounced ''"lance-air"'') is a United States, U.S. manufacturer of general aviation aircraft kits. They are well known for their series of high-performance single-engine aircraft that offer cruise speeds that ...

, in

Uvalde, Texas Uvalde ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,217 at the 2020 census, down from 15,751 in 2010. It is the principal city in the Uvalde, Texas Micropolitan Statistical Area. Uvalde is ...

Variants

;Legacy RG 550 :Retractable landing gear model ;Legacy FG 390 and FG 550 Turbine Lancair Legacy

:Fixed landing gear model with Lycoming IO-390 or IO-550 ;Legacy Turboprop :One example built with the project name "Turbulence" ;CIAC T-90 Calima :Licence-built by CIAC in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

for the

Colombian Air Force The Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC, ) is the air force of the Republic of Colombia. The Colombian Aerospace Force is one of the three institutions of the Military Forces of Colombia charged, according to the 1991 Constitution, with working to exe ...

Operators

In 2009 the

ordered 25 modified Legacy FGs to be used as basic trainers. The aircraft feature 15% more wing area than the standard Legacy FG wing, leading-edge cuffs and a ventral fin to improve stability and low-speed handling along with a reshaped vertical tail and rudder. The aircraft are known as the ''Lancair Synergy'' and were delivered as kits for assembly in Colombia. The first Synergy was flown in September 2010.

Specifications (Legacy RG)

References

External links

* {{Lancair

Legacy Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...

2000s United States sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined piston aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear